Blaine Brende worked as an arborist in Berkeley for nearly 40 years as a partner in the company Brende and Lamb.
Trees
Posted inCommunity
Cut, trim, pave! Crackdown on vegetation near homes in fire zones is coming
Berkeley Hills residents will soon be required to have a 5-foot ember-resistant zone around their homes. The state is getting more serious about its defensible space laws for fire prevention.
Posted inCity
Berkeley’s tree removal aims to ‘set an example’ for wildfire management
The city has cut down nearly 300 trees, mostly eucalyptus and Monterey pine, since 2019 and is now ramping up defensible space inspections of private property in high-fire areas.
Posted inCity
Berkeley residents can request free saplings to combat tree inequity
Neighborhoods in west and south Berkeley have been less leafy and thus less healthy. They are slated to get over 1,200 new trees.
Posted inCity
New map shows which neighborhoods have the most, and the fewest, trees
Wealthier neighborhoods are leafier and hence healthier, but a new tree-planting program is on the way.
Posted inCity
Berkeley council says traffic circles will keep their trees
The Berkeley City Council put many minds at ease Tuesday night by voting to allow existing trees and some vegetation to remain in place in traffic circles around town.
Posted inCommunity
For Earth Day, you told us about your favorite Berkeley trees
Our readers have deeply personal, even possessive, feelings towards their favorite trees. They find meaning in their growth, notice how they change with the seasons and mourn their passing when they die.
Posted inCommunity
Tell us about your favorite Berkeley tree
To celebrate this coming Earth Day on April 22, Berkeleyside is looking for submissions from our readers about their favorite Berkeley trees.
Posted inCommunity
2 large trees fall: Crash onto playground, crush truck in North Berkeley
Two large trees collapsed overnight in North Berkeley during Tuesday’s storm. There were no reported injuries. See dramatic photos shared by readers.
Posted inSchools
6 arrests at People’s Park as police swoop in to let UC Berkeley resume tree cutting
Six people who had been sleeping in the park were arrested early Tuesday. The encampment had been set up on Jan. 4 to stop UC Berkeley from cutting down more trees.
Posted inCrime & Safety
As it investigates fatal tree fall, UC Berkeley promises transparency
The 250-foot eucalyptus that toppled Jan. 6, killing a man, had not been flagged as posing any danger in recent years, but officials are examining everything that might have led to its fall.
Posted inCity
Cal removes 42 trees at People’s Park to ‘address long-deferred maintenance’
Tree chippers and work trucks pulled into People’s Park in Berkeley early Friday morning to take out more than 40 trees and prune a number of others, UC Berkeley officials report.